Grey Fire
by FireOpalQueen
Summary: About seven years has passed since the war. Ginny Weasley is a successful Quidditch player. She is single and NOT looking for love, and even if she were, Draco Malfoy would be at about the bottom of her list of possible lovers. But then he starts sponsoring the Holyhead Harpies, and things take a turn for the unexpected. The only problem is, he's married. EWE, Warning: Infidelity.
1. An Unwelcome Invitation

Ginny Weasley was wearing old and sweaty training robes when she heard the news that set off a chain of events that would change her life forever. Her fellow Chaser Reagan Rudfield was the one to deliver said news. She came up to Ginny after training and said:

"Did you know that the team has a new sponsor?"

This was very good news, as the Holyhead Harpies had been doing badly economy wise for a while. No team was ever kicked out of the British and Irish Quidditch League for playing bad (or Chudley Cannons would have disappeared long ago) but a team with no money obviously couldn't afford to participate. Getting a new sponsor meant that this dire fate would be avoided.

"Oh, great!" Ginny replied. "Who is it?"

"You're not gonna believe this," Reagan said. "It's Draco Malfoy!"

"What!?"

Ginny was shocked. She had not thought much about Draco Malfoy for many years, but she had hated him ever since he'd insulted her family (and Harry, but she tried to think of her ex-fiancé as little as possible…) at Flourish and Blotts the year she started Hogwarts.

Ginny knew that Draco was trying to show the public that he was a changed man, but she had never believed that Draco had truly changed. After all his father Lucius had fooled everyone that _he_ had changed after the first war, but then he'd secretly given Ginny herself a diary with Lord Voldemort in it, which showed how 'changed' he'd _really_ been.

"Why would Draco Malfoy sponsor an all female Quidditch team?" she asked her teammate.

Reagan shrugged.

"Maybe that way no one would accuse him of trying to bribe us into letting him join," Reagan joked.

Ginny laughed.

"Yeah, maybe…" she said. But it still didn't make any sense. "Anyway, I'm gonna go shower now."

* * *

><p>Later the same week Gwenog Jones, who had gone from being the team's star player to being its coach, ended the day's training session with the words:<p>

"Go shower and change into your finest game robes instead of these training rags. When you're presentable you should come up to the clubhouse. There's someone I want you to meet. Now hurry up!"

Ginny guessed that the person Gwenog wanted them to meet was Draco Malfoy. She had hoped she would have had her last interaction with that jerk at the Battle of Hogwarts, and as she showered she considered pretending to fall ill so she could skip the meeting. But then her curiosity won out and she decided to go up to the clubhouse after all. She wanted to know what explanation Malfoy would give for why he was giving 500.000 Galleons to the Holyhead Harpies.

As usual Ginny was one of the first to finish showering and freshening herself up, but she didn't want to go up to face Malfoy alone, so she waited until Reagan and the third Chaser, Angelica Bradford, was done too. Then the tree of them went up to the clubhouse together.

"Ooh, this is so exciting!" Angelica said as they walked.

Ginny rolled her eyes so only Reagan could see.

"He's so _rich_!" Angelica went on. Her tone of voice reminded Ginny of her brother Ron's old ex Lavender.

"He was a _Death Eater_," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was _ages_ ago," Angelica said.

Ginny suddenly remembered how _young_ Angelica was. She was barely out of Hogwarts. On the pitch she was Ginny's and Reagan's equal as a formidable Chaser, but off the pitch she was still a romantic teenager. Ginny wondered if she'd even been at Hogwarts yet during the second war. For Ginny the Battle of Hogwarts was hardly 'ages' ago.

"And he has changed," Angelica went on. "He's good now, but he's still a little _dark _and _mysterious_…"

"And _married_," Reagan interrupted.

This was much more successful in shutting Angelica up than Ginny's point about him having been a member in the inner circle of the darkest wizard in modern history.

Ginny had forgotten that Draco was married, but know that Reagan mentioned it she remembered that he had wedded a woman named 'Asteria' or something a few years back. She was heavily invested in charity work so she fit his 'better man' profile, but she was still a pureblood from Slytherin.

"I wonder if his wife has anything to do with him sponsoring us," Ginny speculated out loud.

* * *

><p>Ginny was right. The first thing Draco Malfoy said after Gwenog had introduced him as their so called 'mystery guest' (that everybody already knew about) was that he was there on behalf of his wife Ast<em>o<em>ria (_close enough_, Ginny thought), who was ill and couldn't come, but had been a fan of the Harpies since she was a little girl. (Ginny already liked the woman a little more than she had a moment ago.)

It was surreal to see Draco Malfoy up on the little podium in their shabby clubhouse. The situation only got weirder when he went on to talk about "supporting good sports_woman_ship" (followed by polite laughs) and "keeping traditions alive" (both followed by polite applause) and so on. Ginny was fascinated by how her old childhood enemy could remind her so much of Professor Binns. She had even started to doze off when Malfoy suddenly said something _very _unexpected.

"As I said, Astoria deeply regrets that she couldn't be here with me today," he began (while Ginny still wasn't listening closely). "That's why I want to take this opportunity to invite you all as our special guests at the charity drive for the _Smethwyck Home for Orphaned Witches and Wizards_, which will be held at Malfoy Manor next month."

When Ginny heard this she sat bolt upright in her rickety chair. (On her left Angelica seemed to be hyperventilating.) Her sudden movement drew Malfoy's attention up on the little podium, and their eyes met over the heads of her teammates. Ginny immediately looked away. As Gwenog wrapped up the meeting she sat fidgeting, eager to leave. As soon as the coach said "You may leave" she was out her chair.

She was half-way out the door when she heard Malfoy's voice behind her.

"Ginevra, wait up!" he called out softly.

She wanted more than ever to leave, but she had no choice but to wait for him. Running away from her team's newly won sponsor would be impossibly impolite. The room emptied around them as Malfoy slowly walked up to where she was standing. His deep blue robes (that were so dark that they had looked black from afar) were so well-made that they made the small meeting room look even shabbier than usual. Gwenog Jones was the last to leave the room before them. She turned in the door to give Ginny a look that said "Don't mess this up!" plain as day. Ginny swallowed and turned back to Malfoy, who'd finally caught up with her.

She looked into his pale grey eyes again. This time she couldn't look away without being rude. Together with his silvery blond hair and light skin they made him look almost like a ghost. But up close like this she could also see that his hairline had receded a little, and that he'd soft lines around his eyes and mouth, which softened the inhuman impression a bit. She wondered what signs of age (and several seasons of professional Quidditch) he could be noticing in her.

"Ginevra," he said, holding out his hand "it's a pleasure to meet you again."

Ginny hated to be called by her full name by anyone but her parents, but she didn't quite feel like inviting him to call her 'Ginny' either, so she just took his hand in hers. It was surprisingly warm.

"Mr Malfoy," she said, pointedly avoiding his first name. "The Holyhead Harpies are much obliged to you for your donation, and for the kind invitation to your home."

She managed to keep her voice pleasant and polite.

"Ah, yes," Malfoy replied with a smile that seemed more amused than just polite. "I hope we'll see _you_ at the Manor next month."

Ginny couldn't tell if he enjoyed watching her squirm, or if he was trying to win her over to the 'Draco Malfoy is a reformed man'-camp. In either case there was only one possible answer.

"Of course," she said through gritted teeth. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."


	2. Party Preparations

A few days after Draco Malfoy's appearance at the club house an overburdened owl arrived with formal invitations to the charity drive for each and every Harpies team member. The cards were made of stiffened parchment, handwritten with golden ink. Ginny's read:

**Ms. Ginevra Weasley (and Guest)**

My husband and I have the honour to welcome you to the

Charity Drive for

_Smethwyck's Home for Orphaned Witches and Wizards _

at

Malfoy Manor, the 5th of February

Dress code: Dress robes

We ask that you and your guest bring a gift for the drive. Remember that every gift is welcome to these precious, poor, parentless children!

_**Mrs. Astoria Malfoy**_

Ginny waited until the fourth of February before she decided that she couldn't ignore the invitation any longer. She had three problems that she had to solve before the next day what to wear, what to give and who to go with.

She paced around her muggle apartment, located on Holborn Road in Holyhead, where she'd moved after her breakup with Harry. The apartment was small, and the city was frankly speaking quite boring, but she loved her place because it was _hers_. She'd never lived alone before.

But right now her home made her want to scream with frustration. She went to her bedroom, stared into her wardrobe, got out into the living room and opened all her drawers, went out into the kitchen and stared into the weird pantry called a 'fridge', then back into her bedroom and opened her wardrobe again. Not that she had any hope that she would suddenly find either fitting dress robes or good gifts for children in it. Might as well hope that a suitable man to bring as a date would turn out to be hiding in there.

Ginny didn't usually agonizing over clothing, but then again she'd never been invited to a party at a pureblood bastion like Malfoy Manor ever before. She looked listlessly at her finest pieces of clothing, a mixed collection of dresses, skirts, blouses and robes. She was stumped. Usually she would have worn her purple evening gown for an event of this rank, but she doubted that any type of muggle clothing would be welcome at the Manor. The invitation had clearly said 'dress robes' after all, instead of the more neutral 'formal wear' (a phrase that had become standard in invitations after the War).

None of the few robes she owned were nice enough for the occasion, and most of them had implemented elements of muggle clothing in the design anyway. Ginny had never been one for holding on to old traditions just for the sake of them being traditions, and she'd never liked wearing robes. She would even have played Quidditch in Muggle clothing if she could have gotten away with it. (She'd _hated _her Hogwarts uniform. "Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter!" she and her school friends had chanted together, and she'd silently added "Too short, too old, too frayed, too darned…")

Ginny slammed the wardrobe doors shut and sat down on her bed. She sighed. It was clear what she had to do. She had to go shopping. Professional Quidditch paid very handsomely, but growing up poor had taught Ginny to abhor spending money unnecessarily. She set aside an amount of her savings every month to use on impulse buys and splurges, but that was different, that was different. That was her learning to spoil herself. _This _was her being forced to but something she neither really needed nor even _wanted_.

* * *

><p>Ginny Apparated into the room at the Leaky Cauldron that was kept empty for the purpose. Ginny rushed out of the room and out through the pub's backdoor. As soon as the archway in opened up Ginny went straight to Madam Malkin's.<p>

When she slammed the door open Madam Malkin herself came rushing out from her back room. She took one look at Ginny's frantic face and told her to sit down, relax and describe what she wanted. Her warm hands took Ginny's measurements as they gossiped about Hermione's latest law reform and the rumour that the lead singer of the Weird Sisters was dating an illusive witch twice his age. It felt almost like being at the Burrow with her mum fussing over her.

Madam Malkin offered Ginny the choice of a dozen lovely fabrics. One of them was patterned with fluttering butterflies made out of sequins, and Ginny made a mental note to send an owl to Luna about it.

For herself Ginny chose gold brocade, because she knew it looked great with her hair. Red and gold. Gryffindor colours. It would help her be brave. The garment came out very lovely, for a robe. Madame Malkin even put a spell on the stiff cloth so it would swish when Ginny walked, free of charge. Ginny still winced at the price.

_Oh well, _she thought, _there will be more occasions for me to wear this._

* * *

><p>Then Ginny went on to <em>Weasley's Wizard Wheezes<em>. She had a sibling discount there, and she imagined that the orphans of _Smethwyck's _needed fun as much as any other children. Ginny strolled along the shelves, picking out things she had dreamt about but never had as a young girl – toy brooms, dolls spelled to talk, twenty sets of gobstones… In the end she burnt almost as much money on gifts for the orphanage as she had paid for the dress robe, but she didn't feel even half as bad about it. This was for a good cause.

Ron was behind the counter, and his eyes went wide when she told him what she was buying a bunch of children's toys for.

"Don't go," he said. "Pretend to break your leg."

"I have to go, Ron. If I pretended to break a leg Gwenog would force feed me Skele-Gro until I fessed up and went with her."

"Well, at least jinx Malfoy from me!" Ron said by way of good bye.

* * *

><p>With all her purchases done, Ginny Apparated back home. The only thing remaining to do now was to get hold of a "Guest". Ginny didn't have any high hopes of succeeding in this task, though.<p>

She had thought about asking Neville, as she usually did when she needed to bring a date for some event or gala, but she didn't think this was a good time. Partly because he had just started dating Hannah Abbott (and Ginny didn't want to be the cause of any misunderstandings between the two of them), but mostly because good friends just didn't force their friends to visit the homes of former Death Eaters.

She couldn't think of anyone other than Neville to ask, anyway. She hadn't really dated since she left Harry. There had been some first dates, almost no second dates, absolutely no thirds. She had focused on her career and her friends and it had been fine. She didn't need a lover, and she berated herself for wanting someone to hold her hand as she entered the dragon's lair. Still, she would have loved to show up there with someone on her arm, just to show Malfoy, with his Manor and his wife. (She would have loved to come there with Harry.)

_Curse it all_, she thought. _It's just one night. I'll go there alone, get really bloody drunk at Malfoy's expense, and then do my best to forget it ever happened._


	3. At Malfoy Manor

Half past five the next day, Ginny put on her new gold brocade robe. Then she went through her cloaks. She owned a deep red velvet cloak that would probably look wonderful with the gold brocade, but that might be to overdo the 'Gryffindor colours' thing a bit much. Instead she went with a short white fur cape.

As she combed Sleek and Shine-potion into her hair, she wondered if she ought to wear it up, but in the end she decided to just put on the simple golden circlet she'd inherited from Aunt Muriel. Then she finished her ensemble off with her Holyhead Harpies-pin and her Order of Merlin 2nd Class. After a moment of consideration she went off to get some red ribbon, and with a flick of her wand she fashioned her old DA Galleon into a second "medal". That should make it abundantly clear that she'd fought on the _right _side at the Battle of Hogwarts.

Now she was as close to ready as she'd ever be for a night at Malfoy Manor, and just in time too. Her old grandfather clock started to ding dong, and as the sixth clang echoed out Ginny could hear a soft 'pop' outside her bedroom door. Ginny grabbed her bag full of gifts from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and went out into her hallway.

There stood Nerys Fawley, the Harpies' quiet and aloof Seeker, wearing wide, vivid blue robes tempered by a simple, dove grey cloak. Her darkish hair was put up in a silver hair net. From her head to her toes she was the image of a traditional, pure-blood witch dressed up for an evening in 'good society'.

Nerys had offered to let Ginny Side-Along when she Apparated to Malfoy Manor, and Ginny had said yes even though she was a bit unnerved by the prim and proper pure-blood. Ginny herself had never been very good at Apparating. She _could _Apparate to places she knew well, like the Leaky Cauldron when she was in a hurry yesterday, but she'd never visited Malfoy Manor before. She had planned to fly there on her travelling broom, but Side-Along apparition wouldn't mess up her hair and clothes near as much, not to mention it was much faster.

"Have you been to Malfoy Manor before?" Ginny asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yes, I have," Nerys replied. "I am a Fawley, after all. Like all old pureblood families we've had our fair share of invites…"

When Nerys realised what she'd said she coloured slightly. The Weasleys were _also_ an 'old pureblood family', after all.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply…" she began.

"Well, you did," Ginny interrupted, a little sharper than she'd intended. "But it's all right. I would gladly have missed out on this invitation as well. Shall we go?"

Nerys nodded a little timidly, and stepped forward towards Ginny. The two women hooked their arms together and turned on the spot.

* * *

><p>The air tightened around them for a moment, and then they stood on a broad gravel walk outside a wrought iron gate. The gate stood open, and through it Ginny could see a large, handsome building. Malfoy Manor.<p>

Ginny and Nerys walked in silence through a large park inside the high hedges. Somewhere off in the could hear the purling of a fountain somewhere in the large park inside the hedges. The place could not be more different from her parent's garden at the Burrow. She doubted any garden gnome had set foot here for centuries.

They were greeted at the door by a servant dressed in green and black livery robes. Ginny rejoiced silently over the fact that the Malfoys still didn't seem to have been able to get a new house elf after Dobby. The servant asked them their names, and took care of their cloaks and their gifts for the charity drive. Then he told them that the drawing room, where they were welcome to use the fire place to Floo home, was to the right, and that the great hall, where the banquet was to be held, was to the left.

Once inside the house Nerys went off to greet some old people who looked like they were very rich and important. Ginny was honestly quite happy to see her go, but at the same time she didn't like being left alone in what she couldn't help thinking of as 'enemy territory'. As she walked through the large hallway many of the pale-faced portraits on the walls took one look at her vivid Weasley hair and turned their noses up in disgust. Ginny supposed she should count herself lucky that didn't start screaming bloody murder like Sirius' old mum had done at Grimmauld Place 12.

Ginny took her eyes off the walls and walked on as swiftly as decency and her robes allowed her. But once she reached the end of the hallway she stopped dead and gasped. The great hall of Malfoy Manor looked eerily much like the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle had looked during the Dark Year. There were green and silver hangings everywhere, and the ceiling was even painted like a starry night sky in imitation of Hogwarts' enchanted ceiling. But there were black and purple hangings among the green and silver ones, and the floor was wood rather than marble. The view through the diamond-paned windows was astounding, but it was the manor's park she saw through them, not the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch.

Another livery clad servant approached Ginny where she stood, but before he reached her Draco Malfoy himself went up to her. He was wearing forest green dress robes lavishly embroidered with silver thread. Before Ginny had time to react he had taken her hand in both of his. Once again she was surprised by how warm his hands were.

"Ah, Ginevra," he drawled. "Welcome!"

"Mr Malfoy," Ginny said, coolly polite.

"Please, call me Draco," he replied, his eyes twinkling. "May I show you to your seat?"

Dammit. She couldn't decline a direct request like that.

"Yes, thank you… Draco," she replied.

Malfoy smiled and held out his arm to her. In his face full of angles even his smile managed to look pointy.

He led Ginny up to the table of honour, where all the other Holyhead Harpies players were seated, together with Draco's wife, parents and some other stiff old important people that Ginny didn't care much about.

As Malfoy pulled out Ginny's chair for her, Angelica looked on looking completely star struck, while Reagan just raised her eyebrows at Ginny. Ginny mouthed "I don't know" at her and shrugged as she sat down. Then Malfoy went off to his seat to officially start off the feast with another of his uninspired speeches, this time containing hackneyed phrases such as "the children are our future" and "we all have to be responsible". Then the first course was brought in.

* * *

><p>Ginny had been curious about Astoria Malfoy ever since she'd learned that she was a life-long Harpies fan. Alas, the woman turned out to be quite the disappointment. She wore extravagantly layered robes in different shades of grey, and her chocolate brown hair had a sheen to it that told Ginny that it was coloured by potion rather than natural pigment. But other than that Astoria was quite plain, and though she was perfectly well bred she was also pretty… boring. She made polite but unversed conversation about Quidditch with the Harpies' players during the mealtime. Ginny noticed that she only drank gillywater and no alcohol.<p>

After the dessert was served Astoria announced all the gifts that had been given for the charity drive, and shook the hand of the matron of _Smethwyck's Home for Orphaned Witches and Wizards _as a photographer from the Prophet took pictures. But as soon as her responsibilities for the evening were over Astoria excused herself and retired, claiming to still not be quite recovered from her illness. She didn't even stay for the first dance, so Draco had to take to the floor with his mother instead.

Her disappointment in the young Mrs Malfoy aside, Ginny had a surprisingly enjoyable evening. She lived up to her resolution of downing all the Malfoy liquor she could get her hands on by drinking copious amounts expensive, elf-made wine, and she talked and danced with Reagan and her other friends from the Harpies for most of the party. Draco Malfoy stood up with all of the Harpies girls at least once, but thankfully he turned out to be a silent (but good) dance partner, so Ginny didn't mind that much even though he insisted on dancing with her twice.

Evening became night, and Ginny followed her friends to the drawing room to say good-bye before they Flooed home. Ginny herself didn't have a fireplace in her Muggle apartment, so she had planned to Apparate home by herself, but she hadn't counted on being quite as drunk as she had managed to become. Nerys the Seeker had probably already left, and Ginny didn't really feel like asking her to Side-Along again anyway. She just needed to… sit down… for a minute and sober up real quick, that was all. She flumped down in one of the armchairs in front of the fire place and put her head in her arms. She'd be ready to Apparate home in no time.

Ginny had been sitting in her chair for quite a while when a shiny pair of boots stepped into her limited view of green carpet and oaken floor. She let her gaze travel from the shoes, over silver embroidered robes and up to the pale, pointed face of her host.

Draco was smiling.


	4. Unexpected Developments

Ginny cursed internally. Somehow she had failed to consider that drinking as much as she could of Malfoy's alcohol might lead to Malfoy seeing her drunk.

Malfoy… no, wait, she was supposed to call him 'Draco' now… Draco crouched down so his eyes were level with hers.

"Ah, Ginevra, are you still here?" he asked, concern in his voice. This new, caring Draco was very disconcerting. "Why haven't you Flooed home?"

"I don' 'ave a fire…place," Ginny slurred.

Ginny thought Draco looked appalled at that, but she couldn't tell if it was her spluttering voice or her lack of a fireplace that made him disapprove. Maybe it was both.

"It's fine," she went on, taking pains to sound more sober. "I can Apparate. Soon. Soon. I just need to… sober up… a bit. Take a walk in your great big garden, mayhaps. Very well managed, it is. No risk of getting lost there, no sire."

Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe I should walk with you, just to be sure," he said.

He didn't sound thrilled at the prospect, but Ginny thought she noticed some kind of glint in his eye. A trick of the light, probably. Or maybe one of Luna's old creatures had gotten hold of him. An eye-glinetering gonglobob, perhaps. The thought made Ginny giggle. Drunkenly.

Now Draco definitely looked appalled. He stared at her for a moment, then he grabbed her by the arm and made her rise. They were halfway down the hallway before Ginny realised that he still hadn't let go of her arm. She considered wrenching it free, but she wasn't entirely sure that she could walk without support.

When they reached the entrance Draco procured her white fur cape somehow – probably magic. He helped her into it, and then he opened the heavy doors with a wave of his wand. Ginny took a step out into the cold night air and immediately felt a lot better. But when Draco offered her his arm again she took it all the same. Just to be sure.

Draco led her to a small path hidden behind some shrubs and lit his wand.

"This has been my favourite walk ever since I was a boy," he said.

Ginny's head cleared a bit more with every step and every breath of winter air. They walked in the light from Draco's wand for a while. Ginny concentrated on not stumbling. Then Draco spoke again.

"So, how do you like Malfoy Manor?" he asked in a light tone. Making conversation.

"It's very… grand," Ginny replied.

Draco sniggered.

"It is, isn't it? Did you know that there has lived Malfoys on this land ever since the Normans landed in England, led by some Muggle kind whose name slips my mind at the moment," he said in a mock pompous voice that reminded Ginny freakily much of her brother Percy.

"Well, there has lived Weasleys in the Burrow ever since Mum and Dad decided that they wanted a place of their own," she retorted.

Now Draco laughed out loud.

"Why didn't anyone ever tell me that Weasleys could be so sharp?" he asked.

Ginny didn't respond. The silence stretched between them as she thought about how much her dad hated Lucius Malfoy, and how well deserved that hate was. What was she doing, joking around with Lucius son?

She let go of Draco's arm and was happy to discover that she could walk on her own without stumbling.

* * *

><p>As they walked on in silence it began to snow, a light night's snowfall that would melt away before the morning. A snowflake fell on Ginny's nose, and she shuddered a little.<p>

"Are you cold?" Draco asked. There was something in his voice that made Ginny pause.

"No…" she said warily. "A little thirsty, maybe."

To her surprise, Draco's face lit up at her words.

"Thirsty? Then I know _exactly_ where we should go," he said.

He led them out on a larger path and they walked there until Draco suddenly grabbed on to Ginny's arm, making her stop in her tracks.

"Look!" he said in a hushed tone, pointing up at the dark hedge that curved around the park.

Ginny let her gaze follow to where he pointed, and what she saw made her gasp. It was an albino peacock up on the top of the high hedge, tail-feathers fanned out in display. The white bird looked almost eerie in the moonlight, but it was also _stunningly _beautiful.

"Wow," Ginny breathed.

"I know," Draco whispered back. "I never grow tired of watching them."

They watched the peacock together until the hoot of an owl startled it and it flew down from the hedge.

When they started walking again Ginny could hear the sound of running water. She guessed that they were getting close to the fountain she'd heard when she arrived at the manor.

The path took a turn around a dragon topiary with a swishing tail, and a circle of trees came into view. In the middle of the circle Ginny could make out the dark shape of a fountain. When she and Draco stepped into the clearing hundreds of small lanterns lit up in the trees around them. Their light pulsed softly and reflected in the fountain. Ginny drank in the view as she stepped closer to the fountain.

It was a large silver construction in three levels. On the highest level a figurine of a woman was dancing with two kelpies, one shaped like a horse and one like a sea serpent. Water flowed between them and down the sides of the fountain to the level below.

Behind her Draco conjured up a crystal glass like the ones they'd been drinking from at the banquet and handed it to Ginny with a small bow. Then he raised his wand, and a stream of water from the fountain wound in flourishes and loops through the air, catching the light of the lanterns, before it gently poured down into the glass Ginny was holding. It was a display almost as beautiful as the peacock's, and Ginny couldn't help smiling as she took a sip from the glass. The water was very cold.

* * *

><p>As Ginny drank Draco moved closer until he leaned against the edge of the fountain. Ginny put her glass down on the edge and turned to look at him. With his pale hair and skin he almost seemed to shine in the light from the moon and the lanterns. If it hadn't been for the red of his lips Ginny might have thought she was looking at the ghost of a young Lord long dead.<p>

_His skin is as pale as mine_, Ginny found herself thinking. _I bet you can look all over his entire body without finding even a single freckle, though. _

The thought of looking all over his body for freckles made her shudder unexpectedly. What was _even more_ unexpected was her reaction when she looked into his eyes a moment later.

Ginny had always thought that Draco had boring eyes, colourless and unemotional, but now they burned like pale grey fire. Ginny lost her breath as she gazed into them. The grey flame in Draco eyes danced, and it was as if a magical charge passed between the two of them.

_We're going to kiss_, Ginny realised. There was no doubt in her mind about it. _Well, one of us has to start it, and it might as well be me_, she thought, and stood on her toes. Draco was slightly taller than she remembered Harry as being, but she could still easily reach his lips. The same moment she reached up, Draco put his hand into her hair. His hand was warm, and so was his mouth when she reached it with her own. But after having seen the flame in his eyes Ginny was no longer surprised by his heat.

The two of them melted together in an embrace, hands in each other's hair tugging gently, and then not so gently when the kiss grew more passionate. With her eyes shut Ginny disappeared into the sensations of the kiss and the soft murmur of the fountain behind them.

When they broke apart to breathe Draco was smiling his pointy smile again. Then he put his arms around her waist and swung her around. The air tightened around them and a moment later they were standing in a dark room.

"Lumos," Draco said, and his wand lit up in one of his hands on Ginny's back.

"Some servant might have seen us out there," he went on, by way of explanation. "In here we'll have more privacy."

He was still smiling.

Ginny glanced at the bed in the corner of the room. When she looked back at Draco his smile had turned positively ravenous. Ginny felt his hands on her back grip around the fabric of her robes, and she gasped when she heard the brocade rip open. Draco stopped what he was doing to take her face between his hands in a gesture that was at the same time gentle and a little rough.

"Don't worry, Ginevra," he said. "I'm very good at repairing spells."

It was such a commonplace thing to say, but the way Draco said it made it sound like the dirtiest words ever spoken. Ginny pressed herself against him encouragingly. With a wave of his glowing wand Draco vanished Ginny's cape. Then he stroked his wand over her bared shoulder. The wand's hot, glowing tip stung a little bit against her skin, and left behind a red mark.

Harry had always been very gentle when they made love, but Ginny could tell that this would be something completely different. The thought made her shiver with anticipation.


	5. Hangover

Ginny woke to the sound of knocks on the door. Some part of her could tell that the knocks were very gentle, but each of them still felt like someone was hitting a large gong in her head. With effort she raised her head from her pillow and looked around her. She lay under heavy green covers in a bed in a small room with wine red walls. This most definitely wasn't her muggle apartment. Where the hell was she?

Then a voice was added to the knocks, and all her memories of the night before came rushing back into her head. She wished they hadn't.

"Miss Weasley? Ginevra? Are you awake?" Astoria Malfoy called softly through the door.

The voice of Draco's wife made Ginny want to hide under the Slytherin-green covers forever. Astoria may be a bit dull, but that didn't mean that she deserved to be cheated on. _What was I thinking!? _Ginny chastised herself. _I _knew _he was married._

When Ginny didn't reply, Astoria went on.

"Draco told me you were too, erm… _tired_ to Apparate home last night. I figured you might be feeling a little… unwell today, so I brought up some breakfast for you. I'd come in and share it with you, but I'm actually feeling a bit sick myself. I think I'll skip breakfast today."

Ginny had never felt so ashamed in her life. Last night Astoria's husband cheated on her with Ginny, and now Astoria was bringing Ginny breakfast in bed. That was just wrong in every possible way.

"No, thank you!" Ginny yelled back through the door. She couldn't bear the thought of facing Astoria. "I don't think food would agree with me either. If it's all right with you I think I'll just Apparate home."

"Of course that's all right; you know what's best for you! I'm just happy we could offer you a place to sleep. I really enjoyed having you and your team mates as guests. I hope we'll get a chance to see each other again soon!"

_I most definitely don't_, Ginny thought, but out loud she just said "You're too kind, you know that?"

Astoria giggled politely outside the door. Then, _finally_, Ginny heard the sound of her footsteps disappearing down the corridor.

Ginny wanted nothing more than to bury her head beneath the pillow, but she also couldn't stand one more minute in Malfoy Manor. She got up from the bed, drew the curtains from the large diamond-paned window and walked over to the dress that her dress robe lay flung over.

Ginny held up the brocade dress robe to the light from the window. It was in pristine condition. Ginny could not find any sign of the rip Draco had tore in it the night before. Still, the memory of that made her face burn even hotter with shame. She wanted to throw the robe away and never see it again, but she had to put _something_ on before she Apparated home, and the robe was all she had. What if she bungled her Apparition up, like she sometimes did when she was distraught, and ended up at the Burrow (or even worse, Harry's house in Godric's Hollow) in only her lingerie?

So she put the robe on. It smelled vaguely of something quite like spearmint. Draco's smell.

She turned on the spot. As soon as she materialised in her own bedroom she flung the dress robe off again. She threw it in a heap at the floor of her wardrobe. Then she went to the kitchen to get a potion ready over her muggle Primus stove. As she waited for it to boil she buried her face in her hands.

The potion removed her headache, but it didn't remove her shame. _That_ was a hangover she wouldn't get over no matter however many "Day After"-potions she drank.

* * *

><p>Life went on, as it is wont to do. Ginny threw herself into practice, and when her teammates asked about her almost frenzied fervour she said it was important to stay at the top of her game. This earned her an approving nod from trainer Jones. When her teammates teased her about getting so drunk that she had to sleep over at their sponsor's house she blushed burgundy, but she didn't think anyone guessed the true reason behind her shame. (Though she <em>did <em>catch Reagan looking at her weirdly a few times.)

Many nights she lay awake, thinking _How could I be so stupid? _and _He was _obviously _trying to seduce me right from the start!_ and _But why me? Why'd Malfoy want to sleep with a _Weasley_? _until she went up to her trusty Primus stove to heat up a Sleeping Draught.

Three weeks after the party Ginny read in the Prophet that Harry was dating Ministry high up and former DA-member Padma Patil. Ginny suspected that Hermione had played matchmaker there; she knew that her friend admired the ambitious Ravenclaw, and that the two women had gotten quite close in the last year or so. Padma had even joined Ginny and Hermione (and Luna, when she was in the country) for some Butterbeers or Fire Whiskeys a few times earlier in the winter. Padma was a good enough sort, Ginny supposed, but the thought of her with Harry still stung.

Picturing Harry and Padma together did at least give some _variation _to Ginny's anxious nights. In her darkest moments she imagined them happily married with lots of kids, while the only 'love' Ginny herself could find was in one night stands with married men. After nights like that Ginny lent one of her teammates' bat and went off to beat some Bludgers into submission.

* * *

><p>Day followed day, week followed week, and soon March came with spring storms and crocuses. On the 11th the Harpies beat the Banchory Bangers with 230 to 40. Ginny made half of her team's goals, and helped Nerys catch the Snitch by blocking the Bangers' seeker with a well-timed pass of the Quaffle. That was the first day in a very long time that Ginny felt truly happy, and that night was the first since her night with Malfoy that she could sleep well without a potion.<p>

After that the nights that Ginny lay awake, beating herself up, became fewer and fewer. From time to time she still caught herself in momentary daydreams of Draco's spearmint smell, his hands tugging at her hair or their bodies moving together, but every time those memories crept back up she pushed them aside. She kept busy even off the Quidditch pitch by writing on the book about Gwenog Pert, the first known female Quidditch player, that she hoped to publish one day. When she got writer's block she even tried to learn to knit (again).

* * *

><p>A little less than a week after the Harpies' win against the Bangers, her parent's owl Evangeline showed up outside her window. Ginny let her in and untied the letter from her leg.<p>

_Ginny, dearest, _it read.

_Easter is next week, remember? I haven't heard from you in a while but I hope you can still come. All the rest of the family will be coming this year, even Charlie. Bill and Fleur will bring the girls, of course, and I was wondering if you'd want to help me hide their eggs? You were always the best at finding them when you and the boys were small._

_Your dad agrees that it feels like we haven't seen you in _ages_. You haven't forgotten about us, have you? I know you're a Quidditch star and everything nowadays, but your old room is still waiting for you any time you want to visit._

_Your dad and I were very excited about your team's win last week, by the way._

_Lots of love,_

_Mum xx_

When Ginny finished reading the short letter she had tears in her eyes. Without even noticing it she had shut herself off from her family. The last time she saw any one of them had been when she bought gifts for the charity drive, and she'd only talked to Ron for a few minutes then. She'd gotten a letter from Charlie a few days before _that _that she hadn't even answered yet.

It'd be good to be home at the Burrow again, even if it was just for a few days. Harry would be there, of course, but she could handle that. He was still family, after all, and right now she needed to be with her family.


	6. Easter Revelations

Picking clothes for Easter at the Burrow was a _lot_ less stressful than it had been to put together an ensemble for the fateful charity event the month before. Now Ginny chose a vivid yellow dress, in honour of the daffodils and newly hatched chickens that she knew would be everywhere in the Burrow's garden, as they always were this time of year.

She finished off with a red satin band around her waist, took a twirl in front of the mirror, and Apparated into her old room at the Burrow.

She smiled at her old poster of Gwenog Jones, which still hung on her wall. Gwenog waved back at her, then she beat a Bludger out of frame and made her victory gesture (a thrust forward with her club as if casting a spell). Ginny's smile broadened. Then she threw her door open and walked out – and bumped right into Fleur!

As soon as they had disentangled from each other, Fleur threw her arms around Ginny again. She kissed Ginny two times on each cheek and said,

"Ginnee! Eet 'as been too long!"

Ginny couldn't but agree. Over the last seven years she'd grown to like her sister-in-law more than she would have thought possible. She hadn't called her 'Phlegm' even once the last five years or so.

"Bill and I 'ave some news," Fleur went on. "I 'ave promised not to tell anyone before our leetle feast starts, but…"

Fleur's voice trailed of, but instead she pointedly put her hand on her stomach and stroked slowly. When Ginny looked closer she could see a slight bulge on Fleur's robe that wasn't usually there, and she caught the gist of what Fleur was trying to tell her.

"Oh, Fleur, wow, another one! I'm so happy for you, congratulations!" Ginny exclaimed. "…and well, Bill can't get upset, because you didn't actually tell me!"

Fleur winked at her.

"Speeking of children," she said with a delighted giggle, "Vic and Domme will be so happee to see you! Victoire 'asn't shut up about you since Bill mentioned that we would see you at Easter."

"Let's not keep Little Victoire waiting any more, then," Ginny replied with a smile.

Ginny played with her nieces as they waited for the rest of her large – and growing! – family to arrive. She was more use that way than she would have been in the kitchen. She was a decent cook – all of the Weasley children were, thanks to Molly – but she was no match for her mum and Fleur.

Once the food was close to ready, Molly and Ginny excused themselves and went out to hide the children's Easter eggs. They put two-year-old Dominique's egg in one of the Wellington boots by the kitchen door, where she could find it before she got bored by searching. Five-year-old Victoire took some more thinking, however. In the end Ginny and her mum agreed to put her egg in the hole of a tree near the garden wall. That way the little wildling would get to do a little climbing for her prize, which they knew she'd enjoy.

* * *

><p>More and more family arrived, and Ginny went to talk to Hermione by the fireplace. Ginny still counted Hermione as one of her closest friends, and yet they hadn't talked to each other for almost two months. Eleven-year-old Ginny had vowed to herself to never again let bad things happening get in the way of her relationships with the people she loved, and this was the closest she'd ever come to breaking that promise. So now she was happy to listen to Hermione tell her about the complicated phrasing of a certain law she wanted to change, even though Ginny usually would have found the subject mind numbingly boring. Still, she felt a slight bit of relief when Hermione suddenly fell silent.<p>

"Er, Ginny…" Hermione said, nodding her head sideways to indicate that that Ginny should look behind her.

Ginny turned around, and looked into the emerald eyes of her ex-fiancé, the saviour of Wizarding Britain, who just had come stumbling out of the fireplace. She'd loved those eyes as long as she could remember. At eleven, they'd inspired her to write a poem where she claimed they were '_as green as a fresh pickled toad'_. She'd drowned in them countless times. But now… nothing.

Ginny looked into the face of the man she'd loved for about half her life, and she didn't feel anything at all. No, that was not quite true. She felt warmth, and friendship, maybe even the start of a sibling-like love… but not even a remnant of the burning passion that had kept flaring up when they met, even after she'd broken it off with him.

"Harry!" she exclaimed, and threw her arms around him.

This spontaneous gesture was a stark contrast to the awkwardness that had presided between them ever since she stormed out on him almost two years ago. At first Harry tensed up, but then he hugged her back.

When they let go of each other Harry gave her a relaxed smile, and complimented her on the Harpies' last game. Soon the two of them, together with Ron, Charlie and George's on-again-off-again girlfriend Angelina were deep into a discussion about the current Quidditch season. Hermione quietly slipped away to talk to Percy instead.

The Quidditch discussion went on until Molly declared that the food was ready. Ginny sat between Charlie and her dad as she ate, but she still had opportunity to talk some more to Harry. They'd always had the same humour and many shared interests, and now they could finally laugh and talk together as they had before. Ginny realised how much she'd missed being able to just hang out with him.

* * *

><p>When all of the Weasleys (and Harry) had finished eating, Fleur and Bill rose, and officially announced that they were expecting a third child, to cheers from the whole family. After that their already born children finally got their chance to look for their Easter eggs. They found them pretty much at the same time, but Victoire insisted on climbing all the way to the top of her tree, and it took the whole family to coax her to come down.<p>

After that Harry said good bye, to go and spend the rest of the holiday with his godson Teddy and Teddy's grandmother Andromeda. As soon as he was gone Hermione grabbed Ginny by the arm, led her to the sofa in front of the fireplace, and sat her down for some 'girl talk'.

"So, you and Harry can behave like normal people around each other again, finally," Ginny's bushy-haired friend began.

"Yeah…" Ginny replied, warily.

Hermione had a way of asking very poignant questions about love and relationships, and Ginny most definitely didn't feel up to a cross-examination about any recent developments of her love life. There wasn't a single aspect of her dalliance with Draco that she wanted Hermione to find out about.

But she needn't have worried. Hermione just gave her a peculiar smile and said,

"That's good."

Ginny pounced on the chance to take this in a direction she was more comfortable with.

"That's good?" she said. "Hm, where does this increased interest in me getting over Harry come from? Might it maybe have something to do with some other friend of yours, I wonder… A certain Miss Padma Patil, perhaps?"

Hermione blushed, but as soon as she realised that Ginny was just good-naturedly teasing her and not at all angry, she began to gush about how perfect Harry and Padma were for each other. It turned out that Ginny had been right in her guess that Hermione had been the one to set them up, but she was surprised to hear that the idea had come from Ron at first. She didn't think her brother had that much subtlety in him. Ginny would have asked more, but she was interrupted by George elbowing himself into sitting between them in the sofa and announcing that they should play Exploding Snap with him.

Like many evenings at the Burrow, much of the night was spent playing games. (Hermione and Percy alternated winning the quizzes, Ginny beat her dad the muggle game Monopoly, and Ron kicked everybody's ass at Wizard Chess, as always.) It was two hours past midnight before the last of them finally went to bed.

But Ginny didn't fall asleep until at least one more hour had passed. Lying in her old bed in her childhood room, she finally had some time to think, and to realise why she'd finally been able to completely get over Harry. The realisation came with a memory of staring into a pair of eyes. But the eyes in question weren't the ones that had kept her awake many nights before, those that were so brightly green that they seemed to shine. No, the eyes that followed Ginny into her dreams that night were grey, and yet they managed to burn like fire.


	7. Not Just a One-Time Thing

As soon as Ginny got back from the Burrow a day later she brought out some parchment and sat down at her kitchen table. Her quill hovered above the page for a moment before she wrote '_Dear Draco,_', and then she immediately scratched it out again. She set quill to parchment again, this time writing '_Dear Mr Malfoy,_'. She stared at the words for a moment. Then she snatched the parchment from the table, crushed it into a ball and threw it in a corner of her kitchen. On a new parchment she wrote '_Dear Draco,_' once again, and this time she kept writing.

After several edits, where she deleted phrases such as 'you arrogant arse' and 'I think I might be in love with you' with aggressive waves of her wand, the finished letter read:

_Dear Draco,_

_Our conversation last month was very interesting, but after some consideration I feel that there are some things we need to discuss further. Can you meet me in Diagon Alley on Wednesday?_

With sardonic smile, she signed the letter '_Ginevra_'.

Ginny had never gotten around to getting an owl of her own, so she brought the letter to that day's Quidditch training. The Harpies kept three 'team owls' that were supposedly only to be used for Quidditch business, but that was one of the very few of Gwenog's rules that no one really followed. Ginny sent her letter with Russell, the small red tawny owl who was the smartest of the three, and most likely to remember to take the reply home to her before flying back to the training grounds.

* * *

><p>Two days later Ginny stood waiting outside of Flourish and Blotts, forcing away thoughts about what the hell she was doing and resisting impulses to bolt. She wore jeans and an old t-shirt together with a muggle coat, carefully not caring about what she was wearing. She dove behind a stack of books to avoid being seen by her old Gryffindor teammate Demelza Robins, who from the look of her packages was buying a new cauldron and potions ingredients. When Ginny came back up from her hiding she saw Draco come striding towards her. <em>He <em>was wearing robes of course. Today they were a very dark purple.

As soon as she saw him she felt her cheeks start to burn, but it wasn't from embarrassment or shame – it was from anger! When Draco looked into her blazing eyes he shrunk back a bit, reminding Ginny inexplicably of her father cowering when her mother yelled at him. Unlike Mr Weasley however, Draco soon straightened up again, and approached Ginny with a genial smile.

"Ah, Ginevra," he said. "How nice to see you again. How about we go somewhere less busy to talk? I know a lovely little bistro in Knockturn Alley."

He offered Ginny his arm, still playing the perfect gentleman. Ginny didn't take it.

* * *

><p>Knockturn Alley was no longer the stronghold of Dark Arts and questionable characters it had once been, but it was still were you went if you wanted to keep from the worst of the Wizarding World's prying eyes. The restaurant Draco had chosen was simply named <em>Wine and Food<em>, and had booth that seemed to be spelled with a variation on the Muffliato charm, because only a nondescript murmur of conversation escaped from them. It gave the restaurant a pleasant atmosphere while still maintaining its guests' privacy.

As soon as they'd sat down and ordered (into the air – there were no waiters) in the booth reserved for _Mr Draco Malfoy_, Ginny turned to glare at Draco again.

"What did you tell your _wife_ you were going to do today?" she asked scathingly, knowing no one could hear them.

What she _didn't_know was why she was lashing out this way – her plans for what she'd do if Draco agreed to meet her had been unclear at best, but they definitely hadn't involved mentioning Astoria the first thing she did. Apparently there was something about Malfoy – Draco – that made her behave so unpredictably that she even surprised herself.

"Meeting with you, of course," Malfoy replied, again with that jovial smile on his face. "She was quite delighted with you, you know."

As Ginny kept glaring at him his stupid smile slowly started to turn into his usual old sneer (if a bit less hostile than it had been in their Hogwarts days).

"Yeah, I noticed," she replied, when she couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Made me feel like a proper prat, as you can well imagine."

Draco's sneer faltered a bit.

"Yeah, er… Sorry about that. I couldn't stop her from going to your room without, you know…"

"Arousing suspicion?" Ginny asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Something like that, yes…"

They ate in silence for a while, until Ginny couldn't contain her curiosity any more.

"How long did you plan it, by the way?" she asked.

She'd expected Malfoy to avoid the question, or at least ask 'What?', but he just replied,

"From that first time I saw you in the Holyhead Harpies' little meeting room. But I didn't '_plan_' it. 'Want', maybe. Or 'hope for'. 'Plan' makes it sound like I attacked or tricked you or something. It takes two to take down a Tebo, after all."

"Takes two…" Ginny said, incredulous. "No! _I_ was drunk, and _you_… you took advantage!"

Her voice threatened to crack at that, but thankfully it held.

Draco looked at her, surprised.

"May I remind you that _you_kissed _me_?" he pointed out.

"Well, that was just becau-" Ginny interjected, but Malfoy just kept talking over her;

"Besides, you seemed to enjoy yourself."

He was smirking again – it seemed he couldn't help it – and as Ginny tried to build up to a new glare a memory image flashed into her mind uninvited.

_She was standing on all fours in the Slytherin-green guest bed at Malfoy Manor, completely naked. Draco was behind her, his robes hitched up, the fabric resting on her back, held still by one of his hands. His other hand held Ginny's long hair firmly, but without pulling at it (as long as she leaned her head back). Her whole body simple_was_pleasure._

Yes, she had enjoyed herself. And him.

She began to blush again; her traitorous skin selling out her secrets as it had a thousand times before. To gain back the upper hand she asked,

"Is this something you do often? Cheat on your wife, I mean."

This accomplished what her first mention of Astoria had failed to do; making Malfoy shut up, and even stop smiling. Instead he looked down at his hands on the table for a while.

"No," he said finally, his eyes still not meeting hers. "I've never… _This was supposed to just be a one time thing_…"

His voice was very quiet, trailing off into silence once again, but his words made an unexpected warmth flow through Ginny's body. 'Was supposed to be' – that implied that this _wouldn't_ actually be 'just a one time thing'.

When Draco looked up into her eyes again at last, it was clear they were both thinking the same thing.

"I live alone," Ginny said, simply.

Draco cleared his throat. Then he nodded.

* * *

><p>Moments later they arrived in Ginny's bedroom. With a sharp glance Ginny dared Draco to say anything about her unmistakingly Muggle apartment. He didn't, but the way he looked around with a surprised and vaguely disdainful mien made it clear he could say something if he wanted. To make absolutely sure he wouldn't, Ginny pushed him down on her bed and kissed him.<p> 


End file.
